the latest news in the week's top stories u.s. officials continue to deny a mass hunger strike at guantanamo bay where more than one hundred detainees have reportedly been starving themselves for forty days. new yorkers revolt against the city's police. officers gunned down a sixteen year old boy in a brooklyn neighborhood. two years since the. european states to put weapons directly into the hands of rebel armies crawling with islamist extremists. and the handover of power in china is complete with the new leaders aiming to keep the economy and military investment growing that's as the u.s. continues to build its presence in the region our top stories this hour.

back in the weeks leading stories and the latest developments this is the weekly on . a hunger strike at guantanamo bay is continuing after forty days with more than one hundred detainees reportedly starving themselves in protest at the desecration of the qur'an by prison guards lawyers for the captives claim the state of their health is close to life threatening but the u.s. military strongly denied the crisis saying only fourteen detainees are refusing food. reports. u.s. president barack obama began his first term announcing his intention to close the guantanamo bay detention center now just two months into his second term the prison enters its twelfth year of operation with one hundred sixty six detainees still

languishing behind bars and a reported one hundred thirty on a life threatening hunger strike and their hunger strikes are the only way they have of even making themselves heard years and years without any hope a release without any real charges this story has been denied by washington and essentially ignored by mainstream media outlets lawyers for the get more prisoners say the men began the hunger strike on february sixth to protest against the alleged confiscation of personal items such as photographs and mail and the sacrilegious handling of their qur'an during cell searches the center for constitutional rights says they've received reports of detainees coughing up blood i'm losing consciousness dropping more than twenty pounds and being hospitalized by day forty five medical experts say hunger strike participants can experience hearing loss and potential blindness and that's in addition to the psychological

suffering they've endured for more than a decade that context where we have individuals incarcerated faisel a bit from each other and they don't know if they're going to get out tomorrow or never in that sense of the circumstance for extreme psychological stress it's really an abominable you know humanitarian situation where you're depriving these people of life liberty and for no really valid basis the director of public affairs for joint task force guantanamo captain robert duran released a statement to our teeth in it he denies all claims of a mass hunger strike or any mishandling of the koran duran says only fourteen detainees at the detention center are refusing all food. our understanding is that based on previous standards the determination of who is a hunger striker is

a discretionary determination that one chinaman makes what those standards are what the criteria are are questions that they need to be at you know how are they defining hunger striker and when are they just terminating that someone needs to be to that and if it is if the definition of hunger striker is entirely in their control and it is a matter of their discretion then i that explains how they are able to say that there are no more than a handful of men on hunger strike lawyers representing get more prisoners have sent a letter to us defense secretary chuck hagel urging him to help and the protest in the meantime organizations like the red cross have made attempts to check on the inmates welfare here's what a representative told r.t. the current tensions in guantanamo bay as far as we can see and as far as we understand are really the result of the uncertainty is made to detainees in guantanamo and uncertainty linked to defeat what's going to happen to them you know

there is a lack of clear legal framework for detention many of them don't know most of them don't know what's going to open and so has been our position and there needs to be a clear legal framework and a transparent process into the procedural safeguards for those detainees and it's to be transparent and fair to alleviate the strains we need to emotional mental strain that this uncertainty triggers for the detainees of the one hundred sixty sixty teenie zach one time obey eighty six have been cleared for release now this week the un said that the us is a violating international human rights law by indefinitely holding prisoners at guantanamo without charge the human rights council is urging washington to pull out bring an end to these illegal practices by either process. getting prisoners in civilian court or releasing that reporting from new york marina point i am starting . well earlier i spoke with former guantanamo bay guard rand didn't need me who

admits he took part in the abuse of detainees and he told me the u.s. is only created more terrorists through his actions at the facility. facility is a lot better but still guards have been there over the last few years all the three men saw it as far as the internal reaction force team and the way the chronos treated in a stuff like that not much has changed maybe the outside is changed but inside hasn't changed too much are people forget that these people have been cleared for release by not only the obama administration but also by the bush administration and they're going to be into definitely golfer who was along they don't know when they're going to see their families again or where they're going to go i think the fact that they don't know what's going to happen you know is it makes them grow and this is their only what form of protest they had to go on or three and the fact is the one who were open a camp decided to open guantanamo knew from the get go and it was wrong that it was it was illegal meaning it was a violation of human rights and the fact is it has to be closed the fact is they'll

never bring him into a federal court system because a lot of the information they have gotten as many leads it had to have gotten out of the use of torture so they can it's on a missile if the reports are still well we dropped the ball we have a system here and we have the opportunity to show the world that arse still and our way of life actually works that we drop the ball in noonan and we've created more terrorists and enemies around the world than we could ever imagine. u.s. military says is force feeding several of the hunger strikers through choose to prevent them from starving to death one expert told us the detainees are in great danger because it's already been weakened by years behind bars. they've been there well some of them have been there over ten years this is been gave suffered all kinds of or torture. in the in the in the form said everyone would agree to probe long deisel ation for many if not most of them which has profound effects all kinds of over abuse simply the not knowing what's going to

happen to you imagine being in a setting like that for year after year and having no idea if you're ever going to get out obviously the. energy the you know without taking food in. the swan both psychologically in terms of the ability to to even think very clearly. and there's a danger that some of these effects become permanent around this time point so they're in great danger. not a web site we want to know your view on the issue every voice accountability dot com where you can tell us why you think quantum is still open after more than eleven years well perhaps you think the u.s. is to blame for not keeping its promise to close the facility maybe cuba should never have at least the base to america in the first place or maybe you think that other countries are to blame for refusing to repatriate detainees or indeed you may

see the nine eleven terror attacks as the main reason that the center is still in business when you can head online and have your say right now and here's how the voting is looking at the moment this with a vast majority eighty percent blaming washington for failing to keep its pledges and almost equally small numbers of you thinking that the responsibility for what's happening at guantanamo bay lays with about one liners with countries. well if you haven't already done so it be good to hear from you coming up after the break police. protests over the killing of a brooklyn teenager. angry clashes and dozens of arrests. problems the first weekly address for the background of the. catholic church to its humble roots. the great.

british stock. market. really happening to the global economy. global financial headlines kaiser reports. good leverage. to build a new. mission to teach me. this is why you should.

only. continues here in r.t. and now to a developing story in karo where police have reportedly used tear gas on protesters and the rest of the number of activists close to the headquarters of the muslim brotherhood some of the demonstrators venting their anger at what they called an attack on journalists were injured the clashes come a day after a cameraman working for the artes arabic channel received a head injury or trying to protect his camera from a gang of men armed with sticks and knives they were attacking a group of journalists and activists including within the next hour we'll bring you

a live update on what is happening in current from bill treat. the killing of a black teenager by the new york police is cause public outrage in a vote week long protest in brooklyn and activists chanted slogans accusing the n.y.p.d. of racism and cruelty clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officials resulted in dozens of arrests and this judge has the story. sixteen year old kimani gray was killed by police shot four times in the front and three in the back the n.y.p.d. claimed the team had pointed a gun at them however this remains uncertain that there was a weapon that no one saw and not his friends his family didn't know he had a weapon and there were a lot of witnesses outside who were able to see it but this individual to have a weapon on him as these candles burn in memory of yet another killed youth an entire community rises up night after night to demand justice and an end to police

brutality for three nights in a row peaceful vigils turned chaotic clashes broke out. leaving one officer hospitalized after reportedly being injured with a brick a total of forty six arrests were made wednesday. but no violence erupted thursday night tensions however still ran high. i mean this is no different. you know so it's like it's like another country a lot of people are just tired of the period with solutions to stop the violence nowhere in sight deeply seated issues between the police and the community remain unaddressed leaving many worried children parents. and r.t. new york bloodshed civil strife and devastation the state of syria two year conflict began the war between the government and rebels is seen seventy thousand

people killed and millions from creating a humanitarian disaster and while diplomatic efforts to bring peace have all failed many say the foreign countries affirming the flames with plans to send more weapons . ripples. this part of syria known as mesopotamia between the tigris and euphrates rivers is considered a cradle of civilization has been home to many asked nic and religious groups living in peace and harmony for ages people here believe this diversity is serious strong point but some warn it could also be used against the country and that's something the destroyed. and the regime slogans in syria have been repeated the longest of all the arab spring countries but assad didn't step down within weeks like the leaders of to measure and egypt nor did his regime fall within months like colonel gadhafi is in libya opposing sides have gone beyond demonstrations and clashes killings have become an everyday reality those

wanting to go both at home and abroad have decided to target what hurt the most serious diversity pitting people against each other after every massacre and every killing rivers of blood have been joined by streams of mutual accusations and hatred. the first blow was dealt to relations between the country's sunni majority and the ruling shia minority some more ignorant position and sometimes. it was never to make a city and it's not to me once that one again. we should keep our unity in all of all of. it gabriel a point from commercially livin in syria's north east bordering sunni dominated turkey and mostly shia iraq says here in about six tarion intolerance is something new for syria and very alarming your will feel this pressure for months now

especially from gulf countries trying to drag us to this perilous share sunni game it's a big threat because a to society from the inside. and some say it's been fud from the outside it is part of the us strategy and some of the western strategy is to destroy syria by syrians and by arabs and this they are doing successfully another blow followed with an explosion at palestinian refugee camps in syria and the cold blooded murder of palestinian conscripts these drove a wedge between the two arab peoples previously on friendly terms they wanted to both weaken the regime and spread despair among palestinians with kurdish villages in syria's north east targeted the kurdish syrian peaceful co-existence has also been endangered of. ok it's approval cations a pure and very dangerous moment as syrian kurds want to be integrated into syrian

society have rights and be respected some turkish kurds maybe do as early ones killing his own people god we've never been treated like that of course when violence targets us it can't not affect relations in a cool. and fears are that those who wanted to see the fall of the regime will witness the country's whole instead. from syria. and moscow's preparing a record response naval force to patrol the mediterranean at least six russian ships are expected to ply the waters on a permanent bases will be there to guard national interests and transport people if the syrian conflict gets further out of control as you go to put it off has more. according to the head of the navy moscow wants to have five to six ships permanently beast in the mediterranean that will be controlled through the command of the black sea fleet based in the crimea there is speculation that this group will be put together out of ships taken from the northern and the scene works the

fleet the idea to base the navy in the mediterranean was initially voiced by defense minister sort of. weak and of course this comes as the whole region is in the global spotlight due to the. russian authorities are not winking basing the need either in the region to what's happening in the country or earlier they said that the only way the in the good in gauges of the help assist possible future of accusations of russian citizens from the country but actually the idea of moscow basing the navy in the mediterranean isn't something completely new during the soviet times a huge group of up to thirty vessels was growing we based there from the early sixty's through the early ninety's. and the chinese reshuffle the country completes a once in a decade transfer of power while other states are beefing up their presence in the pacific region. still to come but first the overwhelming majority of

those voted yes to being british in a referendum on monday argentina which claims the u.k. has stolen the islands labelled the poll a farce but london was quick to capitalize calling on what is or is to respect the people's will something the u.k. government has failed to do elsewhere as sarah firth explains. this is the story of an island a proud and spirited people displaced and i government he put it devastatingly high price on paradise shockingly for many it will be the first time the story's ever been heard. of the happiness that we were leaving to each other and away when been treating here. we discover a moment it's very hard to get us is a british colony in the indian nation and the largest of the chaebol silence as

a population of a thousand people about the same as the. good memories. there you go it's a home a real paradise today they da gusty is one of america's biggest military advices because it's our land. it's not for them. you know when you see them you got this anger because they are enjoying the island. we are suffering back in the one nine hundred sixty s. and it is shrouded in secrecy bush cynically to learn the islands to the us but there was a problem the island had for generations been inhabited by the chikezie and people they'd built schools hospitals a whole life and what did the british government they simply pretended none of this existed by fixing the entire population from their homes secrets lies deception

dishonesty always rooted in facts in one thousand nine hundred eighty s. britain went to war protecting the folks and islanders from argentina in training first sums of money and costing precious lives the exact same time it was also using extensive resources preventing the people of the chakan silence from returning home the falkland living in the homeland and they have a choice to see where they if they wanted to stay under. the rule of the british or if they wanted to go to the fork. and time rules they have a say and we don't have the city. give me the impression that there's not just this event the british government is the one like you every now and then you see you here in the news talking about human rights justice social justice and so on but they are one that many people in the justice that she can see in community have

been fighting for their right to return to the islands ever since they winning some of their court cases pushed. government have continually appealed blocking their progress every step of the way how differently the chikezie and people have been treated there's been a government balloting on knocking on doors on their behalf or asking what they want the word comes to mind. for how long are you going to punish us for how long we're going to live this life. we don't want to be here we don't want this life. we want to go back. where we belong. perhaps the most shocking thing about this story is this is simply something that happened decades ago this past injustices have been compounded by successive british governments right up to the coalition of today he continued to fight

against the church returning to their island and so their stories swimming largely . and yet people continue to bravely fight to return to their home. says. more stories for you right now on a website r.t. dot com it's not about the money for injuncted turned russian passport holder says his move was not about escaping taxes but because he's hoping to become. for him that on our website right now. also online drastic measures are leading animal welfare groups says it will use drones to stop illegal hunting in britain find out more about the upcoming war in the countryside. two car bomb attacks in iraq killing ten people in this oil rich city of basra is

rarely a target of violence and is considered a safer part of the volatile state the bombing comes just days before the tenth anniversary of the u.s. led invasion let's talk more about this with policy adviser fergus hudson he's joining me right now from north carolina so where does iraq stand today ten years after it was invaded. it's a difficult question because the problem is that prior to the invasion it really was a difficult situation already the no fly zones in force by the british u.s. and french military and a very difficult sanctions meant that iraq prior to the invasion was already in a very poor state and so it's hard to say it remains in a very difficult situation one interesting point to note though is that a recent gallup survey in iraq said the people gave the message that basically i thought the place was small secure now when the u.s. forces were present in greater numbers so therefore could you not say that

was the right thing is the country not better off now without him. that's a difficult question the problem is that the cost involved with removing dead that dictator or tyrant was enormous you're talking about almost a trillion dollars more than a hundred thousand people dead now you know if it's a very difficult question to answer we might say yes we didn't we don't want to leave a like that for the same time we don't want to engage in such aggressive activity and there are more peaceful ways about achieving achieving that outcome and we're reporting on bombings today why we still seeing continuing acts of violence that. i think will firstly people should know that there are still many u.s. contractors there so it's not as though there is zero presence the united states and many people still see that as a presence which they want to fight against also iraq already was

a very divided nation you have kurds you have synergy of many different minorities who are necessarily happy with each other or with the prevailing leadership so that for ten years it's a period of transition is that a long time or not long enough is this is sort of thing you'd expect teething problems as it were as a country changes its direction. that's a great question one one parallel we could say is the north and south korea scenario and that it has taken many decades to really see you could say the positive outcome of the presence of democracy so we can say that it is to be at this stage so yeah exactly that it's a very long term process building the values institutions of democracy and now of course back in two thousand and three the bush administration sold the war to the world on the grounds of the fact that saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction proved of course he didn't as the us your lessons on that we're not going to see anything like this happen again. i'm not sure that's that's that's a difficult question already that same propaganda is or is surrounding the iranian

situation and iran along with many other nations people there are suffering from sanctions which paved the way for war so. i had people at slightly less inclined to buy into that propaganda or misleading information but it still it people still are vulnerable to that notion and you've got to almost give credit to the people who managed to pull that off because that is managed to persuade people that someone like iraq is a nation like iraq second threat to the united states given that the u.s. forces have been enforcing a no fly zone for about a decade and never been touched so if they can if the iraqi military can't even protect their own borders how could they ever come and attack a more much more powerful nation so yes we people who are still of on will do that but i'm hoping less slightly less so than in the past good to talk to you for us today thanks for joining us live policy adviser focused. on outside playing to.

china's new president has called for what he described as efforts to continue the realisation of the chinese dream he was giving his first comments after the nation went through a once in a decade shift of power this week economic development will be the top priority for the country's new leaders and recent forecasts look promising a report from pricewaterhouse coopers predicts that china which is another world's second largest economy will catch up with the u.s. by twenty seventeen before overtaking it and one of the top spending priorities announced by the new leadership is defense comes amid america's growing military expansion in china's backyard u.s. efforts to gain a stronger foothold in asia and the struggle for regional influence has been raising concerns in beijing just days ago the pentagon and the decision to put fourteen more missile interceptors along america's west coast and deploy a radar tracking station in japan they say it's in response to a north korean nuclear threat but according to professor joseph churning at hong

kong's city university the future balance of power in the region will be defined by the amount of money countries spend on the military given the fact that china aims to become a major power and be you know position to be famine is territories and it's office overseas interest it will continue to spend that kind of rate of increase doubt any substantial old chums in military expenditure i suspect in fact the time is so far to properly understand that the american military spending is very much limited by the fact that. the obama administration has to cut its military budget because of mastic financial difficulties still head for you in the program this hour in r.t. with the new pope now at the helm. promised a new approach to the catholic.